One Little Slip
by MissLindaLee
Summary: 1 mathematician, 1 southern belle, 1 week ... 1 little mole. Dukes/Numb3rs Universe


_I was challenged to write this by a good friend, and I'm never one to back down from a challenge. It's a missing scene, taking place a week after Kelly moves in to live with the Eppes, when everyone was still getting used to her presence, and certain … things are bound to happen._

Charlie walked into the house, his shoulder bag slung over one of his shoulders, reading a sheet of paper in his hand. He heard muffled voices in the kitchen, recognizing both his father's and brother's voices; the mathematician smiled as he shut the door behind him and headed for the stairs.Don had been spending practically every night athis house since Kellyhadmoved in, and while Charlie knew it was because Donhad been a little paranoid since the shooting - as had everyone - Charlie was glad to be seeing more of his brother outside work ... it was really nice.

Charlie would have normally gone to the kitchen to say hi to his family, let them know he was in, but he'd had just gotten off an all night stint at his office doing research, and that was only because Larry had finallykicked him out, ordering him to go home and get some rest (and a shower and something to eat). At first, Charlie resisted, but Larry was nothing if not stubborn, and her persisted until Charlie finally gave in and left - whether to actually get some rest or to just get away from Larry's ranting, it wasn't clear.

With every step up, Charlie did find himself getting more and more tired, until he reached the top, and his energy was nearly gone. Must be more exhausted than I thought, he mused as he trudged to his room. He glanced into Paul's open door and saw the agent laying on his bed, reading a book; the agent glanced up and smiled at Charlie.

"Look who's finally home," Paul said. "You look exhausted."

"I feel exhausted," Charlie replied. "Is Kelly around?"

"Yeah, she's in her room," Paul answered. "I think she's taking a nap."

Charlie nodded and yawned before heading down the hall. He wanted tocheck on Kelly, but he was way too tired, so he trudged into his bedroom, closing the doorbehind him. He made his way over to his bed, and he was about to flop down, but then he realized how grungy he felt ... and how a good a hot shower would feel. The young man yawned again as he headed for the bathroom and open the door.

Inside, Kelly stood with her back to him, dressed in a blue terry robe, humming softly, oblivious to everything as she stood next to the tub. The tub was filled with water, bubbles creating a foamy top layer, and Charlie quickly deduced that the young woman was going to take a bath. He had just opened his mouth to make a comment about not taking too long so he could get in when Kelly untied her robe and pulled it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

Charlie was instantly awake as he raised an eyebrow, adverting his gaze - but only did for a moment before he slowly glanced back; he stared at her naked backside, mesmerized. Her skin was nice and smooth, pink with no blemishes. She was thin, but not too thin like some Hollywood actresses who were barely anything but skin and bones; even with her blonde hair hanging loose, Charlie could still see the outline of the toned muscles on her arms and legs … her firm backside … the tiny mole high on her right … cheek. The mathematician smiled a little; that was something new.

"Huh," he said. Kelly, startled by the noise, whirled around, giving Charlie a good view of her front side – for about a second – then …

"What the hell do ya think yer doin'?!" Kelly shouted as she reached down and grabbed her robe, covering her front as she glared at Charlie.

"Uh …," Charlie replied, trying to come up with some reason that he had been staring at her - and he couldn't come up with a single reason except 'you're hot,' but he didn't think that would fly well with Kelly at the moment. "Nothing?"

"Nothin'?!" Kelly asked, her voice rising. "Nothin'?! Yer standin' there starin' at me while I'm standin' here nekkid, and all ya can say is 'nothin'?!'" Using her left hand to keep her robe covering her, she reached over to the sink and grabbed the closest thing – Charlie's toothbrush – and she chucked it at him. Charlie barely ducked, feeling his toothbrush graze the top of his head; he stumbled backwards into his room, falling onto his bed.

"I'm sorry!" Charlie shouted as Kelly stormed into his room. "It was an accident! I swear!"

"Yeah, and I bet it was an accident that ya kept starin' at me!" Kelly replied as she marched over to his bed, grabbed one of his pillows, and started pummeling him with it. "Guess what? This is an accident, too!"

Charlie covered his head with his arms as Kelly let loose with a string of foreign words that he quickly deduced were swear words – he just wasn't sure what she was shouting… and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Suddenly, the door opened and Paul came running, gun drawn. He stopped short when he saw Charlie cowering in fear, and Kelly standing over him, a pillow in one hand, her other hand holding her robe over her front – and her backside completely exposed. Paul quickly looked away, blushing.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked as he put his gun away.

"I'm killin' Charlie!" Kelly replied before she went back to pummeling the mathematician.

"Ow!" Charlie said. "Kelly, that – ow – that hurts!"

Paul kept his eyes lowered as he looked at the floor near the bed. "Uh … Kelly, maybe you should -"

"What's going on in here?" Paul looked over as Don and Alan hurried down the hall toward the agent.

Paul shook his head. "Maybe you two shouldn't -"

"Whoa," Don said as he and Alan got a good look into Charlie's room – and what was going on inside. The agent quickly looked away, blushing; he glanced at his father, seeing Alan had done the same thing. "I don't want to know."

"Kelly!" Paul shouted at his charge, hoping to get her attention.

"WHAT?!" Kelly shouted as she stopped hitting Charlie and glanced over her shoulder. She saw Paul standing just inside the door, with Don and Alan behind him; all three men looked embarrassed, keeping their eyes on the floor. "What is the matter with ya?!" She saw Paul pointing at her, and the young woman furrowed her eyebrows, confused; she looked down over her shoulder – and immediately saw why Paul, Don, and Alan weren't looking at her. The young woman shrieked as she dropped the pillow and scrambled back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Charlie lay on his back, slowly removing his arms, glancing around cautiously to make sure Kelly was really gone, and he saw his brother, his father, and Paul looking at him questioningly. "What?" he asked as he sat up.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" Alan asked.

"It was an accident, I swear," Charlie said as he got to his feet. "She was supposed to be napping." He pointed at Paul. "You said she was taking a nap."

"Oh, so this is my fault, huh?" Paul asked. "Last time I checked, I didn't walk in on her while she was naked."

"Okay, okay," Don replied quickly, holding up his hands. "Charlie, what happened?"

"I wanted to take a bath," Charlie answered, "and I thought Kelly was sleeping, so I walked in … and Kelly was there …." He trailed off, moving his hands.

"An' he was starin' at me!" Kelly shouted from behind the closed door. "He saw me nekkid!"

"Kelly, calm down," Alan replied. "I'm sure he didn't see … much."

"He saw me nekkid!" Kelly shouted. "He saw it all, Alan!"

"Now, that's not true!" Charlie protested. "I barely saw anything!"

"Ya went 'huh!'" Kelly shouted.

"Because I didn't know you had a mole on your-" Charlie said, then he cringed as he realized what he'd just said. He glanced over at the trio of men; Don and Alan looked at him, eyebrows raised, while Paul frowned, folding his arms. "Uh … yeah …."

"See?!" Kelly shouted. "He admitted it!"

"Okay, okay," Alan replied. He sighed. "I, uh … I think it's probably best to make some rules to avoid something like … like this from happening again."

"We had 'em, remember?" Kelly said. "Lock the doors an' always knock! Charlie didn't knock!"

"And did you lock the door?" Alan asked. Nothing. "Kelly?"

"No," Kelly said, her voice subdued.

"Okay, then this is something you're both to blame for," Alan replied, "and maybe you'll both learn from this. Now, I'm going to go back down and get dinner started." He heaed out of the room.

"I'll join you," Don replied, following his father.

"Same here," Charlie said, thinking it would be safer than staying upstairs until Kelly calmed down. He quickly headed out of his room, trying to think of something other than naked Kelly … and he found himself thinking about naked Kelly … and her little mole; he couldn't help but grin as he left his room.

Paul stayed in the room, and he saw Charlie's grin. The agent sighed and shook his head. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered to himself before leaving the room.

- - - -

Later that evening, Alan, Don, Charlie, Kelly, and Paul sat at the table, eating spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and salad with creamy ranch dressing; everything was quiet, save for the sounds normally associated with eating. Despite sitting across from each other, Charlie and Kelly refused to look at each other, the earlier incident still fresh in their minds. About halfway through the dinner, the two heard a small snort, and they looked up and saw Don eating, his attention focused on his plate as he moved food around with his fork, but they could clearly see how red his face was – and they knew he was trying to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Charlie protested, glaring at his brother.

"Oh, yes it is," Don replied, his voice cracking as he tried to hold in his laughter. He shook his head, biting his lip, but his chin started trembling. Suddenly, a meatball hit the agent in the nose, and plopped onto his plate. Everyone looked over and saw Kelly smiling smugly at Don. "What was that?"

"Retribution," Kelly replied.

Charlie cracked up laughing. "Now that was funny!"

Don stared at the meatball for a second before picking it up. He looked at it for a moment before taking a bite; he nodded his approval – then he chucked the meatball across the table at his brother, hitting Charlie in the side of the face. Charlie stopped laughing.

"Hey!" Charlie protested. He grabbed his piece of garlic bread and aimed his at Don.

"Okay, enough," Alan replied.

"But he threw a meatball at me!" Charlie protested.

"I don't care who threw what," Alan said. "We're all adults here, and that means no throwing food at the table." Charlie looked affronted, but he didn't say anything. Kelly snickered, and Alan pointed his fork at the young woman. "You, too, young lady." Kelly stopped laughing. "Now, what happened, happened, but let's move past this, okay?"

"Easy for ya ta say," Kelly replied. "It wasn't yer butt bein' see by every guy in the house."

"Well, we could always fix that by letting you see ours," Don replied.

"That's quite okay," Kelly said quickly.

"Okay," Don replied. "Dad's right: get over this. Besides, as I recall, it's not the first time people have seen your backside, honey." Kelly blushed, and Don snickered. "Oh, come on, I'm teasing you." He reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Okay, okay," Kelly replied, smiling as she pushed Don's arm away and straightened her hair. "I get it." She looked at Charlie, pointing her fork at him. "But the next time ya walk in on me, I get ta kill ya."

"Fair enough," Charlie replied. The group went back to their dinner, but Kelly glanced up and looked at Charlie as he ate, and a small smile played on her lips before she went back to eating. She knew she'd been less than pleased when Charlie had walked in on her, but now … well, she wasn't as displeased as she thought she should be. Sighing softly, she went back to picking at her salad, oblivious to the fact that the others had heard her sigh. Paul glanced at her and shook his head before going back to his dinner, but Charlie raised an eyebrow, watching the young woman, trying to read her expression and gauge the meaning behind her sigh. After a few seconds of looking at her, he slowly smiled.

Charlie had to admit he really hadn't been able to stop thinking about … her like that, despite his outward apprehension; he couldn't help it - she was really beautiful … and he found the mole on her backside to be really … hot, but he knew that was probably as close as he'd ever be around her. His smile faded as he shook his head slightly before continuing his meal, oblivious to the fact that both his brother and father had seen everything.

Don and Alan glanced at each other, and the two shared a smile. They knew that, despite Charlie's disappointed expression, things were okay between the two geniuses … and things were probably going to get interesting between them as well.

THE END


End file.
